Tweet John Coleman Hayes successfully sold at least 40 condos in the past 60 hours, 32 of which were sold during Saturday’s live auction. The condo auction, held under a semi-heated tent in the West End’s motor court, was well attended with an estimated 185 potential buyers in attendance. Jerrold Pedigo began the auction promptly [...]

In 2007, Crosland Tennessee President Bill Barkley announced plans to develop a 2 acre parcel of land in the Gulch into Griffin Plaza, a $35 million 10 story project with 140 apartments and 32,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space. With that announcement, the website went live and the buzz began to build with mentions [...]

The Four Seasons Residences in Miami offers residents true luxury through high standards of innovation, relaxation, and refined personal service. The spectacular collection of Four Seasons’ homes are located on the 40th through 70th floors of the tallest building in Florida, offering infinite views of Miami.

The floor plans offered for the Four Seasons Residences include 1 – 3 bedrooms with 1.5 – 4.5 bathrooms ranging from 1,114 – 4,269 square feet. Award-winning penthouses are available as either a fully designer-furnished package or as an empty palette to customize as you wish. Prices range between $500,000 – $5,300,000 with monthly maintenance fees averaging $0.72 per square foot.

Owning a residence at the Four Seasons in Miami means receiving unparalleled, 24-7 room service and concierge along with all amenities offered to Four Seasons’ hotel guests. Furthermore, residences are guaranteed a solid association in a reputable building; 2 memberships to the exclusive Sport Club/LA fitness complex; assigned parking and storage; a private, owners-only pool; and a number of other world-renowned services available through a touch-tone phone featured in every residence.

The opportunity to experience the essence of pampering and hospitality at the Four Seasons residences has never been available on more attractive terms.

For more information on purchasing a residence and becoming a permanent Four Seasons hotel guest, click here.

2009 was supposed to be a horrible year for Nashville condo sales, yet the Icon in the Gulch was able to sell and close 84 new condo contracts. By the pure number of closings, the Icon in the Gulch was certainly the big winner in terms of gross number of sales, but many may be [...]

Miami, FL (January 4, 2009) – Condo.com, a leading online real estate portal and rapidly growing national real estate brokerage, has announced Jody Desnoyers as the company’s new Director of Training and Development. The company’s brokerage department works with condo buyers, sellers and renters around the country and will look to Desnoyers to help recruit, train and establish a process for additional agent growth to support customer demand. Condo.com offers several opportunities for agents such as: condo listings, advertising and free networking tools including the ability to create profiles, provide advice to qualified users, post blogs and upload videos. The company offers a complete agent and broker experience through training and certification programs. Agents receive qualified leads, marketing support, a CRM account, and now- a more robust training and coaching program set to be launched by Desnoyers in the next 60-days.

As the new Director, Jody will be focused on the training, recruitment, and retention of all agent development programs. Specifically, his plan includes further development of the “agent toolbox” complete with seller and buyer presentations, useful handouts and pertinent industry news – all with the purpose of enhancing the brokerage team’s effectiveness, agent by agent, and ultimately resulting in higher lead conversion. “Jody’s addition to the department further enables us to develop into the world’s largest condo brokerage”, stated Richard Swerdlow, Founder and CEO.

Prior to joining, Condo.com, Mr. Desnoyers began his real estate career as an agent for Foxtons, Inc. where he sold over $40 million worth of residential real estate in his first 18 months. He went on to manage and train teams of agents responsible for over 1,000 closed real estate transactions while serving as Director of Operations – South Florida and Broker of Record for Home Discovery Inc, Broker / Owner for Empower Realty. Most recently he was Broker of Record & Regional Sales Manager – New York for Lending Tree’s residential real estate subsidiary, RealEstate.com. Jody brings a breadth of real estate brokerage knowledge and experience to the Condo.com team, particularly within lead generation and web-based brokerage business models. Jody majored in communications and played baseball at Canisius College before earning a Bachelors of Science degree in Psychology from the Plattsburgh State University in New York. .

About Condo.comCondo.com (www.condo.com) is the world’s largest condominium marketplace with over 800,000 listings valued in excess of $250 billion. The site is a consumer-facing, online real estate portal which receives over 1 million visitors monthly and is dedicated to the evolution and prosperity of the condominium real estate market. Condo.com improves and simplifies the way people buy, sell, rent, live and vacation in condos. Condo.com lists condos for sale and for rent in the United States and 70+ countries around the world. The Company cost-effectively delivers exposure and qualified leads to developers, brokers and owners through the seamless distribution of its listings to a global network of real estate websites visited by over 15 million viewers per month. The company is also a licensed real estate brokerage business in multiple markets and has a growing nationwide network of licensed real estate agents providing brokerage services. Condo.com is privately held and headquartered in Miami, Florida

The Nashville housing market will experience an accelerated sales volume in 2010 aided by the government’s extension and expansion of the first time home buyers federal tax credit, more government-backed lending assistance, and historically low mortgage rates according to 90% of major forecasts for 2010.
Surrounding real estate markets will improve in the Southeastern U.S. with [...]

Florida condo sales increased by 111% based on a year-to-year comparison. 4,889 total units were sold this past November compared to 2,320 units sold in November 2008 throughout the state of Florida. Although sales have increased, prices have decreased over the past year by 21%. The condo median sales price was $104,400 last month compared to a median price of $131,400 recorded for November of 2008. According to NAR, the national median condo price was well below Florida at $172,900 for October 2009.

The contributing factor for this large condo sales increase is the extension of the federal home-buyer tax credit. The tax credit will continue to be a guiding force of home-buyer activity, and a large contributor to increased condo sales for 2010. Condo markets in states like Florida, known for being over-populated, will begin seeing a large decrease in condo inventory. These numbers are forecasting a much more stable condo and housing market for this coming year.

Florida continues to provide significantly lower priced condos comparing other markets. Check out some of the great deals on Florida condos by clicking here.

The job market these days still remains a scary situation for both the employee and employer. Such uncertainty has left both homeowners and renters with the harsh reality of becoming homeless should they lose their jobs.

Due to the current economic standings, there is now a job loss mortgage insurance rider that can be applied to your renters insurance policy. The question that many are asking is: What if I am a condo owner, do these same benefits apply to me? According to a recent article by InsuranceAgents.com, both rent-to-own condo buyers and official condo owners will qualify for job loss insurance.

Mortgage and rental payments are generally the most costly of ones expenditures. In the event that job loss occurs, it can become extremely difficult to continue these payments in a timely manner especially considering all other outstanding bills to be paid. Therefore, this job loss insurance is highly beneficial as it covers your monthly rent or mortgage payments until you find a stable place of employment.

Job loss insurance does, however, have certain eligibility requirements which must be met.

Here is a list of these requirements:

1) Condo owners are only able to use this coverage if they are let go (quitting or being let go due to misconduct or criminal activity does not count).

2) Condo owners cannot be self-employed, or own more than 10 percent of the company where they are employed.

3) Job loss insurance must be purchased while the condo owner is still employed, and they must wait 30 to 60 days after the loan closes before coverage begins.

If the condo owner meets all eligibility requirements, this coverage will guarantee that the insurance company will make all payments due to their mortgage company.

With the current sliding job market, it is hard for anyone to claim their employment status is 100% safe. For peace of mind as well as ensuring you will be able to keep your property, it highly recommended that you check with your insurance company about obtaining job loss mortgage insurance. Some have already done so, have you?

This 3 bedroom 3 bath condo located in Mosaic, a beachfront luxury condo building, features 1,507 square feet and a 333 square foot balcony. Enjoy the ocean view from the master bedroom, living room, and kitchen. The second and third bedroom boast amazing city views as well. This unit even comes with a private elevator and foyer. The kitchen and bar area include granite counter tops and Sub zero and Miele appliances.

The list price is $702,900 or $466 per square foot. The flow through unit is located on the 15th floor and has direct ocean and city views. Click here to get more information on the beautiful Mosaic on Miami Beach- what a great deal!

The Federal Housing Administration began enforcing new rules in attempt to help more condominium buyers qualify for mortgages. Officials state that such rules are necessary to ensure consumers are purchasing units in viable buildings, and are also meant to keep defaults on condo projects to a minimum.

Highlights of the new policy on loans in condo buildings include the following:

Temporary changes

· 50% owner-occupancy minimum, excluding vacant and tenant-occupied units· Condo pre-sale threshold reduced from 50% to 30%· Cap on FHA loans in a building raised to 50% from 30%

*Note: the cap can be raised to 100% if certain conditions are met

Permanent changes

· Eligible buildings’ association must have at least 10% of budget in a reserve fund· No more than 10% of units can be owned by one investor· No more than 15% of units can be at least a month in arrears on association fees.· Loans now OK when associations have the right to reject a buyer, provided there is no discrimination.

Some argue that these changes will make it harder for builders to deliver new condo buildings. The debate relates to certain changes such as the new eligibility requirement for building associations. It states that loans will be approved in buildings whose condo associations have deposited 10% of their annual budget in a reserve account for repairs and maintenance. Critics say the 10% threshold is too high for buildings with few units. Furthermore, the FHA has been scrutinized for falling into industry pressures on the process, therefore causing condo loans to be more prone to foreclosure.

FHA officials, on the other hand, believe the policy is well-balanced, mitigates risk, and helps to protect consumers. Since lenders are now forced to be more careful about which projects they fund, such rules contribute to more financially sound condo investments.

Search This Site

Search for:

About Grant Hammond

Grant Hammond is the foremost downtown Nashville real estate market expert and condo guru. Having represented more than 125 individual pre-construction condo buyers in just the past 3 years, he has the expertise and connections to secure deals on Nashville real estate. Hammond has guided more than $215 million in real estate deals since 2002.

Hammond holds a Tennessee broker license, an ABR and e-PRO designation and has received more than 27 real estate awards.